


The Pressure

by hannah_is_tiredd



Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Angst, Author Projecting onto Ian Lightfoot, Brotherly Love, Bullying, Emetophobia, Gen, Good Older Sibling Barley Lightfoot, Hurt Ian Lightfoot, Hurt/Comfort, Ian Lightfoot Needs a Hug, Ian Lightfoot has anxiety, Post-Movie, Whump, brief homophobic language, the angstiest thing i've written
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26700820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannah_is_tiredd/pseuds/hannah_is_tiredd
Summary: "It happened on a relatively slow Thursday morning at New Mushroomton High School. It was the beginning of October when the students were already starting to think about the festivities of the incoming holiday season. But Iandore Lightfoot wasn't inclined to think about any of that stuff just yet."After a traumatic experience, Ian realizes he can't handle the fame of being his town's resident wizard. When he tries to prove he can be strong, he lets his emotions get the best of him.
Relationships: Barley Lightfoot & Ian Lightfoot, Sadalia Brushthorn & Ian Lightfoot
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	The Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! so yeah i know i'm starting a whole new story just as i'm writing an entire series about dark magic (aaa) but my god dan scanlon has just...masterfully crafted this world to where there's so much ideas i've gotten in the past 7 months i've obsessed over this movie. i constantly have different ideas for stories floating around and therefore i have so many unfinished onward drafts sitting around haha. but here's a more personal story this time, as it's entirely based on my experiences with panic anxiety, sensory processing disorder, and emetophobia, battles i'm still fighting to this day. so yes, this can be triggering for anyone who has experienced those things. just take note of that before reading <3

_...Every Wizard should beware, as keeping these strong emotions inside a bottle can cause great eventual danger for the individuals, and those surrounding them..._

_Quests of Yore, vol. 4_

* * *

It happened on a relatively slow Thursday morning at New Mushroomton High School. It was the beginning of October when the students were already starting to think about the festivities of the incoming holiday season. But Iandore Lightfoot wasn't inclined to think about any of that stuff just yet.

It hadn't been too long since he repaired their school after battling a cursed dragon made up of parts from the building. Most of the students didn't mind going to the same school as the town's resident wizard; in fact, they were more than happy knowing that they would see a potential national celebrity in the making during his early years. However, some students didn't take too kindly to magic returning to the realms. And they had sought out to take everything they could from the young mage.

In the days following the event, Ian was determined to come out of his introverted shell, after heading on a quest with his older brother Barley to bring their father back for 24 hours. Barley couldn't have been more proud of him, seeing his younger brother's true potential.

At first, he was enjoying the praise from his peers and smiled whenever he received fan mail from kids who wanted to be like him someday. By then he was naive about handling fame; he didn't think it would be as hard for him to deal with. 

And that naivety would show, once he ended up being stopped in the hallway one morning.

It started out innocently: he had headed out of his alchemy class on his way to the restroom at the other end of the hallway. At that end of the hall were empty classrooms, giving a more abandoned feel to the long room. One of the fluorescent lights was flickering, and the blinking sound could be heard throughout the hall. The sound of the dripping water from the faucet became louder as the elf moved closer to his destination. 

Ian had nearly reached the bathroom when he felt someone violently grab the collar of his flannel from the back.

The elf lets out a sharp gasp, his stomach feeling like it had dropped. He was thrown to the ground, his forehead hitting the stone floor. Through his ringing ears, he heard laughter from multiple different students. He quickly looked up to see a tall elf, skinny with a bit of muscle on him. He had longish dark blue hair along with a soul patch on his chin. He wore a stained white tank top, ripped jeans, and worn tennis shoes. As Ian scrambled to get back up, the tall elf grabbed him again, throwing him against the lockers this time.

The wizard was already hyperventilating when he looked back to the other two cronies with the other elf: a cyclops with a chipped tooth, and a goblin with a nose ring.

Ian had sunk down to the ground feeling the pain in his limbs.

"Gods, Ridge, how many times you gotta shove him into the walls?" the cyclops asked. "Not too many more I guess...this little faggot is so skinny I'm pretty sure he's already broken two bones by now."

The three of them let out more laughs, and at that point, Ian's fear had started to turn to rage.

He got up from the cold stone floor and uttered " _What's your problem_?"

"What's _my_ problem? Oh, I'm just taking out the trash and giving it what it deserves," Ridge answers, grabbing Ian once again and slamming his head against the lockers.

Of all the times he could've left his staff at home.

Ridge turned Ian around to look at him, and grabbed both of his arms, gripping them tight. "Listen, Lightfoot, you're not gonna make magic the standard, no matter how much you dilly-dally around with that stupid little staff, got it?"

The scrawny elf was too frightened to speak at this point, his head still stinging from being slammed.

"Can't speak now, can we?"

Suddenly Ian yelped as his curly blue hair was grabbed by the cyclops, and he was put into a chokehold by him. "What should I do with him, Ridge?" "Go crazy Beck...in fact, what you're doing right now is great."

Beck tightened his chokehold on the elf, who was struggling to breathe and was using all his strength to pull himself out, to no avail. He could even break out of Barley's chokeholds if he tried hard enough...this was a different story.

"Alright, that's enough...we ain't trying to kill him."

Ian let in a big gulp of air once he was set free. Without saying anything, he instantly started to bolt away from them, when the goblin started to speed up behind him.

"Hey, we ain't finished with you yet!" The goblin yelled. He tackled the wizard, bringing him to the ground, his nose hitting the floor hard.

Ian lifted his head off the ground to notice that blood was quickly dripping down his nose. The goblin started throwing punches and scratches at the elf, yelling "Can you heal this with your magic, huh? Do you wish you had your little staff to help you, huh?"

The elf had tried as hard as he could to throw the goblin off of him, but all of these kids were too strong.

"Okay, Bram, that's a wrap. You did great," Ridge told the goblin.

"Have a nice day, wiz kid," Beck told Ian as the three of them walked away from the scene. They cackled and joked as they headed downstairs.

The elf was left sitting on the ground in shock with a painful lump in his throat, blood still dripping down his nose and now down his neck. He was breathing heavily as if he were about to cry.

He'd never been physically tormented like that before. Not even in elementary school

He got off the ground and ran to the bathroom, tears streaming down his face. He looked at his face in the mirror; bruised, bloodied, and a scratch was on his chin. He furiously started throwing water on his face to wash away the blood, then dried off his face and rushed in a bathroom stall.

The elf shut the door behind him and slumped on the ground, starting to feel numb all over after hyperventilating for so long. He looked down to see that he'd already emptied his bladder during the encounter, causing his grief to become worse.

Ian grabbed his hair as the panic worsened. Everything felt as if it were shutting down. His vision became blurred, and he was certain he would die.

He attempted to stand up, but his queasiness became stronger. He held onto the stall, trying to keep his balance, but he couldn't do it.

That's when it happened. The combination of all these events happening to him at once culminated in him throwing up in the toilet.

His hyperventilating slowed after that as if that was him getting rid of all his panic...but he will never forget what happened that day. No matter what.

He flushed the toilet but didn't leave the stall. The class was almost over, and he wanted to wait until class was over for him to rush back in and gather his things. One thing he knew was that _he wanted to go home_.

Ian buried his face in his hands, letting excess tears stream down his face.

_So this is what fame is really like?_


End file.
